Highlights

The iPod Anti-Trust Case Now Comes In Black, Pink, And White

An antitrust lawsuit against Apple mulls in the background, as new, enviously nubile iPods were recently announced. The suit-filers charge that Apple has continued to block files sold by other online music stores (Wal-Mart, Napster, Best Buy, Yahoo, etc., which all use DRM-ed up Windows Media files), despite how allegedly inexpensive licensing the WMA (and other) formats would be. The Apple “crippleware” that restricts WMA files is also charged with doing the “crippleware walk” in defiance of a previous court order. The argument is that buyers of the iPod are forced into buying music from Apple’s iTunes store -- or ripping music from their own CDs. Unfair!

Has Apple insidiously doomed purchasers of the iPod into a life of Apple serfdom? Do people listen to WMA files? How long have I scoured the internet looking for a way to convert my annoyingly bothersome WMAs into MP3s? What about FLAC? Does anyone care about FLAC???? No, not AFLAC, I’m talking about these. (Note: some iPods can play FLAC files, but who really cares about lossless, open-source audio formats.)

IN OTHER NEWS

A somewhat unrelated case pending in the EU challenges Apple’s country-by-country pricing model, which charges EU consumers differing amounts, depending on which country they live in. Pays for play?

IN OTHER OTHER NEWS

Then there’s this lawsuit that slaps Apple with damages for dropping the price of the iPhone so soon after launch, in turn pissing off people who really, really wanted to sell theirs on eBay.

As per usual, bootleggers, pirates, and otherwise unassuming file-sharers are unaffected.

An antitrust lawsuit against Apple mulls in the background, as new, enviously nubile iPods were recently announced. The suit-filers charge that Apple has continued to block files sold by other online music stores (Wal-Mart, Napster, Best Buy, Yahoo, etc., which all use DRM-ed up Windows Media files), despite how allegedly inexpensive licensing the WMA (and other) formats would be. The Apple “crippleware” that restricts WMA files is also charged with doing the “crippleware walk” in defiance of a previous court order. The argument is that buyers of the iPod are forced into buying music from Apple’s iTunes store -- or ripping music from their own CDs. Unfair!

Has Apple insidiously doomed purchasers of the iPod into a life of Apple serfdom? Do people listen to WMA files? How long have I scoured the internet looking for a way to convert my annoyingly bothersome WMAs into MP3s? What about FLAC? Does anyone care about FLAC???? No, not AFLAC, I’m talking about these. (Note: some iPods can play FLAC files, but who really cares about lossless, open-source audio formats.)

IN OTHER NEWS

A somewhat unrelated case pending in the EU challenges Apple’s country-by-country pricing model, which charges EU consumers differing amounts, depending on which country they live in. Pays for play?

IN OTHER OTHER NEWS

Then there’s this lawsuit that slaps Apple with damages for dropping the price of the iPhone so soon after launch, in turn pissing off people who really, really wanted to sell theirs on eBay.

As per usual, bootleggers, pirates, and otherwise unassuming file-sharers are unaffected.

[Good day, everyone! Just a little disclaimer: if you indeed decide to go to the website featured on the image in this story and you're at work, by all means feel free. Just pack your shit beforehand.]

P4K announced, oh, about an hour ago, that they are helping curate another kick-ass ATP festival in Camber Sands Holiday Park (in Sussex). Of course, it's hard to believe P4k, especially when they promised that Of Montreal/Girl Talk remix that we've never fucking heard. I've been pissed off about that actually. That was promised like four months ago! (It's probably Gregg's fault though, so whatever. Here is a link to the lies.)

Sooooo, basically ATP and Pitchfork are sort of "fighting" each other or something, 'cause Pitchfork is going to pick half the bands for the first weekend (May 9-11) and ATP is going to pick the other half for the following weekend. It's called ATP Vs. Pitchfork. Here is a partial list of the bandz playing:

Shit man, that lineup looks stellar. I bet ATP picked Ween. It'll cost Â£140 which is around $285 in U.S. currency. Daaaamn.

Well, if you are poor like me and scared to leave the country, then you should definitely consider our festival, which will be coinciding with the ATP Festival. Guess what? It's completely free, and you don't even have to leave your chair. Don't worry this isn't like our April Fool's joke. That was lame, -- we're so over that.

So prepare yourselves for this:

That's right! We're teaming up with the porn gods from Only The Best Movies Dot Com for an awesome porn festival, where TMT will pick half of the best pornos and OTMB will pick the other. We can't give you a "partial" list yet, but I promise we'll have one for you soon. So, hang tight -- we'll drop more information about our awesome porn festival soon. Until then, clip out some coupons for your favorite lotion and check out P4K's own news story on the ATP/P4K festival here

“The law here is clear, as are the consequences for breaking it.” - RIAA

After two days of testimony and four hours of deliberation, the RIAA surprisingly won a pivotal case yesterday when a federal jury in Minnesota found a woman liable for sharing copyrighted MP3s. For a mere 24 songs, Jammie Thomas (after a public whipping) has been ordered to pay a whopping $220,000 to all four down-home, friendly music groups Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group, and particularly EMI Group (Capitol, specifically). The payment breaks down to $9,250 in statutory damages per song, which could've been been as low as $750 per song ($18,000 total) or as high as $150,000 ($3.6 million total).

The case, which was the first jury trial in the industry's lawsuits targeting individuals, is pivotal because the judge essentially ruled that the mere act of making MP3s available for download is viewed as infringement. Meaning: the RIAA did not have to prove that any songs were actually transferred. The RIAA centered its accusations around Thomas having a Kazaa user name linked to a web address, as well as replacing her computer's hard drive in order to cover-up evidence.

Since 2003, 30,000+ people have been accused of illegally file-sharing, according to The New York Times, but most of them settle out of court for $4,000 on average. The RIAA claims to lose $4.2 billion per year due to file-sharing, but, as Paul Resnikoff of Digital Music News points out, it also has to do with "increased competition for entertainment dollars, antiquated pricing strategies, and an incredibly hostile stance towards consumers." Nobody ever said capitalizing on digital music was going to be easy, but these pricey lawsuits will be the end of major labels if they can't properly engage with the internet, diversify their revenue, adjust their pricing models, and tap deeper into licensing and distribution. Easier than it sounds, I'm sure.

Remember when Kurt Cobain's body was found (April 8, 1994, for all the young ones) and, for the whole weekend afterward, MTV played Nirvana's performance on their MTV Unplugged series over and over, interspersed with news reports about his suicide from the likes of Kurt Loder, Tabitha Soren(burger), and Ted Koppel? Wait, you didn't know that Ted used to be on MTV!? Yeah, I can still recall him alerting affiliates that his show, Yo!, MTV Nightline, was going to run long, usually due to events like Axl Rose releasing the hostages or an evenly matched and engrossing debate between the Daddy Mac and the Mac Daddy. Ahhh, good times.

Well, get ready to relive those 90210-fueled days starting on November 19, when Nirvana's MTV Unplugged In New York performance is released on DVD! The performance was atypical for the band because, aside from the acoustic instruments, it included a handful of semi-unknown covers, the exclusion of most of the band's "hits," and the sporting of a ponytail by Dave Grohl. It has never been released on any video format since it premiered on the synergistic cable behemoth on November 18, 1993, but The CD version, which added two songs not found on the original eMpTyV (hey, remember that one? Or Skank?) 12-song broadcast, was released almost 13 years ago. The DVD will include the entire 14-song concert, as well as four songs recorded during rehearsal. Now, some other TMTers would probably make a needles and smack joke here, but not me. Thank you, and good night.

Straight from the back of that CD you never listen to, the MTV Unplugged In New York DVD setlist:

As we already reported, Radiohead expect to sign to a record label in order to help distribute their forthcoming album, In Rainbows, despite self-releasing it digitally next Wednesday and as a special box set in December. The label chatter has increased tremendously, especially after managers Chris Hufford and Bryce Edge recently told BBC Radio that a decision was coming within days. It's unsurprising, then, that places like Billboard and Hits are already starting to predict the likely home for the "proper" retail version of In Rainbows.

Both Billboard and Hits point to the same area, but there is an important distinction to be made. Billboard says ATO (and possibly Side One Recordings) is the "front-runner," while Hits seems fairly confident about Side One Recordings. What both labels have in common is Coran Capshaw, a rich, filthy rich dude who manages Dave Matthews Band and owns Musictoday, the Bonnaroo franchise, and plenty more. Most importantly (at least for this story), Capshaw also co-owns ATO, which is a division of the Sony BMG-owned RCA.

So, how does Side One come in? Well, Capshaw owns another company called Red Light Management, which is significant because Red Light and ATO jointly created Side One. You've probably never heard of it, because it's new, and its first release is Underworld's highly anticipated album, Oblivion with Bells, expected on October 16. This is already a good reason why Radiohead might sign to Side One, but also because Phil Costello, a former senior VP of marketing for Capitol and an early industry chum of Radiohead, would be in charge of marketing and promotion.

Long story short: Capshaw owns both ATO and Side One, but Side One seems most favorable for Radiohead's unique position.

What becomes interesting though is whether or not ATO and/or Side One are technically independent of the major labels. Currently, ATO is owned by Sony BMG, but reports say ATO is trying to break its ties with Sony BMG (further underscored with Billboard reporting that David Gray's Greatest Hits will be the label's first "fully independent" release). Meanwhile, Side One doesn't seem to have a direct connection to any major label, aside from the tenuous Capshaw connection. Of course, things are never as clear-cut as they seem, so who really knows, especially during this somewhat transitional phase for ATO/Side One.

So, what kind of deal might this be? According to Hits: "The arrangement is said to be a 50/50 joint venture and will not involve a sizable advance — in keeping with what are expected to be only modest physical sales. What remains unclear is the term of the deal and the number of albums involved."

Distribution, of course, is a different story. The popular predictions seem to be EMI outside the U.S., and RED in the States, an "indie" distro that's owned by Sony BMG. Hard to fully escape the beast, obviously. (Case in point: Lightning Bolt is distributed by a major-owned distro.)

Of course, no deal has been sealed, and rumor has it that EMI and Warner are still in the running. But with the potential of Capshaw's intuitiveness and Costello's direct experience, Side One could quite possibly be a perfect fit. And if Side One is indeed an independent, well, shit: match made in heaven. And then, finally, Radiohead, after all these years, would be this much closer to hiking up their skirts a little more for Dave Matthews.